Where I work, we are entering our busy time of the year. Lots and lots of catered parties. As usual when we do a party of over 100 people, SOMEONE is going to ask for a vegetarian plate. That usually gets handed off to me, as I'm a fairly creative person that can "work with what we have".

I would like to try making a vegetarian curry, or other vegetarian dishes. My basic requirements are:

-Something I can prep and hold refrigerated, and will last for a week or so.
-Something that isn't spicy/hot to start with. I have chile/garlic paste at work already, and can add that as needed, or just regular crushed red pepper or cayenne pepper if that person what's something hot.

These are some of the things that I have to work with that we keep in stock:

There is a fairly decent Asian grocery store that I shop at from time to time. I've looked for fresh or frozen curry leaves, but haven't found any. I have not asked, as many of the folks there don't speak English very well. I'm also not sure if they carry kaffir lime and/or kaffir lime leaves.

I can cook rice and hold it cold, and reheat to order should I get a request. I don't mind getting some basmati or jasmine rice, as I've worked with basmati before.

I do not mind buying a small jar of curry paste, especially if it's a different color, although I'll want to taste the finished product before I go ahead and put it on the menu.

If I do anything with lentils/dal, I'd have to buy those. I don't mind, but if I cook them and hold them cold, how long will they last?

I have in my files a basic coconut curry sauce recipe. I'll probably be using that. I also have a thai curry sauce recipe, and I may give that a shot.

Wash and pick over the beans. Place them in a pressure cooker with the garlic, ginger, pepper paste and the tablespoon of ghee or oil, the salt and the water.

Bring the pressure cooker up to pressure and cook for 40 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Puree the tomatoes in a food processor and add them to the pressure cooker along with the butter, Kasoori Mehti, the Garam Masala and the ketchup. Simmer for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally and mashing the beans slightly.

Add some milk if the mixture appears too thick.

Continue cooking to thicken.

Stir in the cream and nutmeg.

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." -Carl Sagan

Hi Allen, I have cooked for atleast 75 people before and most of these are Indians and prefer Indian food. I normally make the sauce ahead of time and I like to freeze it. Then at the last minute I just have to mix everything together and viola I am done.

So here is the first basic sauce recipe that you can make ahead of time and freeze. I will then give you some ideas of what you can add to it.

Onions - You need lots of them. For 75 I would normally use 6 super large yellow onions finely chopped
1 large can of tomato sauce (the one that is like 16 oz)
4 chopped green chilis
1 cup of spice mix - Use whole spices - Equal parts of cumin and corrainder seeds, dry roast and grind and save
2 tbsp of garam masala powder - Make your own (three large cinnamon stickts, 2 tsp of cloves, 2 tsp of black pepper, some whole cardamoms - dry roast and grind)
2 tbsp of freshly grated ginger
2 tbsp of freshly minced garlic
Oil - 1/4 cup
3/4 pint of heavy cream
2 cups of ground almonds (you can leave the skin or lose it, I do either or depending on the time I have)
salt to taste
Water (about 10 cups)

In a large pot, heat the oil, cook the onions until they are almost brown, add the garlic, ginger and saute it for 5 minutes or so. Next add the dry spices and toast them for a bit. Add the ground almonds, tomato sauce and water and let it all cook for 30 minutes on high heat until all the flavors mingle. Add the heavy cream and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.

The gravy should be nice and thick. Pour it into containers or into a large pot and off it goes into the freezer.

This is a basic north indian gravy that you can add the following to. You can remove this the day off, heat it until it's nice and bubbly and add some paneer and peas to this to make mattar paneer. You can also add some boiled baby potatoes to the gravy and you will have a dum aloo. You can add some veggie patties (it's basically a mixture of mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and spices, made into small croquettes and pan fried). You can slowly put these into the gravy and you have malai kofta. So it's a very versatile gravy.

You can also make the gravy with coconut milk instead of heavy cream and you will have a very different texture to the gravy.

You can use a similar gravy with vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes.

I like Andy's recipe as well, its for the classic dal makhani. In addition you can also use chickpeas or garbanzo beans and make a gravy similar to my recipe (minus the almonds, heavy cream and coconut milk) and they freeze beautifully as well. Chickpeas go very well with naan.

1. Wash the rice properly and soak in cold water for an hour.
2. After an hour drain the water and dry the rice in a paper to soak the excess water.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and lightly fry the paneer.
4. Heat the ghee in a pan, add bay leaf, garam masala and cumin seed for sauté.
5. Add the dried rice and fry the rice in a low flame.
6. Add green peas and salt to taste and water & cook it for 10 min.
7. When the rice is half cooked, add pre-fried paneer cubes, salt to taste and cook it.
8. After 5-10 min, when the rice becomes soft, add nutmeg powder, mace powder and mix well.
9. Add ghee and mix properly in a low flame.

Here in Milan there are a few shops for spices and herbs or Indian bread but I 'd really visit India in a near future in order to buy whaterver comes to my mind.. I do really love spices!!!!have You ever tried coffee with cardamom seeds?It is very tasty!

Hi Arwen, yes I add ground cardamom to my coffee. I normally add a tsp of it in my filter before brewing my coffee. It adds a subtle spice flavor that makes the coffee even more special. I like to do this especially when I am entertaining.

Hi Arwen, yes I add ground cardamom to my coffee. I normally add a tsp of it in my filter before brewing my coffee. It adds a subtle spice flavor that makes the coffee even more special. I like to do this especially when I am entertaining.

Yes! I adore this peculiar taste in coffee!!!My boyfriend also likes it a lot!!

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend to a medium fine paste. Add enough water to achieve the desired consistency. Adjust the salt and lime juice levels to suit your taste. Remove from the blender, and allow to stand for at least an hour (preferably several hours) before serving.

NOTES: The original recipe calls for vinegar instead of the lime juice, and does not include the mint leaves and EVOO. I prefer the freshness of lime juice as compared to vinegar. The mint leaves give this chutney a nice, subtle flavor, and the EVOO enriches the chutney just a tad.